


Fidelity of Affection

by kaeorin



Series: Loki's Lullabies [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Animals, Cats, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin
Summary: Early in your friendship, you ask Loki to go to the animal shelter with you to keep you from adopting a dozen. Slowly, you coax your new feline friend into loving and trusting you, and maybe he’s not the only one.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Series: Loki's Lullabies [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240
Comments: 11
Kudos: 254





	Fidelity of Affection

_“Once [a cat] has given its love, what absolute confidence, what fidelity of affection! It will make itself the companion of your hours of work, of loneliness, or of sadness. It will lie the whole evening on your knee, purring and happy in your society, and leaving the company of creatures of its own society to be with you.”_ \--Théophile Gautier

The two of you were barely even friends when you asked him to go to the animal shelter with you. You’d seemed nervous about it, maybe even hesitant, but he’d had to admire the way you straightened your shoulders and followed through on your request anyway.

“Will you go with me? Wanda said she’d go, but then she and Natasha had that last-minute mission. I don’t want to wait for them to get back because I feel like I need to be there today, you know?” You paused for a moment, but he remained silent, sensing that there was more you needed to say. “And I just really need someone there with me because otherwise I’m afraid I’ll adopt every last cat there, and I’ve only gotten Tony to agree to one.” You twisted your hands together in front of you, and he’d tried not to laugh. It was all too easy to picture you standing amongst rows of empty cages, clutching a dozen or more strays to your body.

“I am not well-known for my impulse control,” he warned. In truth, you intrigued him. He was actually very interested in joining you on an outing today, but that interest was what made him hesitate. He didn’t really want to make too many connections here in Midgard. Just in case.

Maybe you’d heard some sort of waver in his voice, because you stepped even closer to him and moved as though reaching for his hands. You caught yourself just in time, but tilted your head curiously at him. “Please? I’ll buy you lunch?”

It was not the offer of lunch that convinced him, so much as the fact that you clearly thought that the offer of lunch would convince him, that actually convinced him. As soon as he agreed, the sheer joy in your face made him happy he did. He didn’t bother pushing his presence on many of the others in this damned Tower, but, out of everyone, you were the least irritating.

And so the two of you headed out. It was a little bit charming, how excited you were about this trip—and the potential of getting a cat. It was even more charming when you would seemingly realize how long you’d been rambling about your excitement and duck your head to try to hide your face. Each time, it made him want to reach out to lift your chin so he could look at you again. He kept his hands tucked safely under the table at lunch, and in his pockets as you made your way to the shelter.

Once there, he hung back a bit, not entirely willing to insert himself into your experience. Instead, he watched as you made your way down a long row of cages. The animals in them were wildly varied, but all vaguely pathetic. He wasn’t sure he liked this place. These creatures were imprisoned only because they had nowhere else to go? That didn’t seem fair. 

“First cat?” The boy who’d led you into this room sidled up to Loki and gave him a knowing look. Loki cast about for the correct response—he would have preferred simply not answering at all, but Thor had started to get on him about the way he never did anything to refute his monstrous reputation, and it was getting harder to ignore him. Finally, Loki just shrugged. It appeared to have been enough for the worker, because he laughed and nodded. “Gotta keep the missus happy, right?”

Something prickled in Loki at that, some sharp urge to correct the misunderstanding, followed immediately by an intense desire _not_ to correct it. He didn’t want this child getting _ideas_ about you. So he gave him as mild a look as he could muster before going to join you at the cages. You were crouched low to the floor in front of a specific cage, brushing your fingers gently along the bars.

“Hey there, buddy. I’ve been dreaming about you. Will you come home with me?”

He couldn’t see exactly what you were talking to, so Loki had to crouch beside you. When he did, you flinched a bit, and then gave a sheepish laugh, as though you hadn’t realized he was there. At this angle, Loki could almost see the glint of something’s eyes as it cowered in the back of the cage. It was a small black cat, and though its ears pricked forward in interest, it extended a paw to flash its claws at the two of you.

“This one? Are you sure?” He didn’t really expect to have any say in your choice, but there were dozens of other cats who pressed themselves to the front of their cage in hopes of getting your attention. Each of them seemed better-suited to your warm heart, more willing to accept the love you so clearly had to offer.

“See his ear? How it’s kind of shredded at the tip? I’ve been dreaming about this guy.” You kept your voice low. “That’s why I felt like I needed to be here today. I know it sounds silly, but I need him. He’s the one.” You raised your voice, then, calling out to the worker, whose face went tight when he realized which cat you were looking at.

“He’s no good. He bites and scratches and he’s just...mean. We’ve been calling him Beartrap because he’ll absolutely shred your arms. Did you see the big calico over here? She’s really sweet, and I think she’d love you.” He seemed hesitant to open the cage. Your face hardened a bit and you shook your head.

“I want _him_ , please.”

The worker relented, then, and unlocked the cage so he could yank the creature out into the light. In no time, he turned into a yowling mess in the boy’s arms, and Loki did not miss the way the cat tried to sink its teeth into his flesh. The worker shoved the cat into the carrier you’d brought along and took you to the front to fill out the paperwork.

Despite all the drama, the three of you made it back to the Tower in relative peace. Loki accompanied you up the elevator and all the way to the door to your rooms, at which point he finally handed the carrier back to you. The cat had been nearly silent this whole time. 

“I can’t thank you enough,” you said, standing half in your doorway. “Do you want to come in and help him settle in?”

He took a step backwards, and then hated himself for it.“That’s alright. I’ll leave you to it.” He hated the chill tone in his voice, and he hated the way he fully retreated with no more than a slight incline of his head. He spent the rest of the afternoon trying not to think about how soft your voice had been when you’d spoken to that creature in the cage.

Over the course of the next few weeks, if he found himself seeking out books about Midgardian cats, surely there was nothing wrong with that? He discovered that they were interesting little creatures—or, at least as interesting as anything Midgardian could be. He read about their body language, their physiology, the kinds of things they needed in order to thrive. They’d domesticated themselves, adapting to use early Midgardians for their own survival. He had to admire that.

When he learned that attacking and killing prey was a way that the creatures could begin to stake a claim on their territory, and that modern cats could satisfy that urge by playing with toys, maybe he started to keep half an eye out when he wandered the city. Thor had a great penchant for wandering the streets—and posing for selfies with adoring fans—and looking for toys gave Loki a way not to go completely insane. When he finally found something decent—a great feathery mess which looked a lot like the fat, stupid pigeons that plagued the streets—he bought it and then forced himself to bring it to you.

“I’ve been reading,” Loki said lamely, and then thrust the wand into your hands. “Cats need toys.”

If you were put off by his strange behavior, you gave no sign of it. Indeed, your eyes lit up and you reached to pull him into your rooms. “This is perfect, Loki! Thank you so much! Will you—I’m trying to show Bear that other people aren’t scary. Will you please come play with him for a bit?”

If he hadn’t already been standing inside your door, he might have tried to run away, but you were standing there in front of him looking so hopeful and clutching that wand so happily that something inside him gave way and he found himself nodding. 

The cat in your sitting room bore little resemblance to the one in the cage those weeks ago. He was not cowering in a corner, but sitting in the middle of the room. His body seemed tight, ready to flee for safety, but he regarded Loki warily as he entered the room. You approached the cat slowly and held out the wand as though for his approval. Loki felt a strange sense of...pride? when he reached up to swat at the feathers on the end. You beamed at Loki and moved the wand around a bit, activating the cat’s hunting instincts. After spending so long reading about these creatures, it was interesting to watch one in real life. The cat—Bear, you’d called him—moved with a certain kind of grace, which put Loki in mind of creatures in Asgard. And yet there was also another layer of...silliness to this thing, perhaps because it was so small. He found himself smiling. When you handed the wand back to Loki, he was all too happy to take his turn entertaining the wary little thing. After a few moments, Bear seemed to decide that Loki was at least as trustworthy as you were, and continued to attack the wand.

He started spending more and more time with you in your room. Playing with the cat made it a little easier to speak to you, and he found that he began to share much more of himself than he ever would have thought possible. You followed his lead. You never seemed to push for more than he was willing to share, and yet when you asked him questions, he always answered them without a second thought. In turn, he started asking more questions about you, getting to know you better. It was no surprise that you were caring and warm and curious, but you also let him see a bit of your darkness. You could be angry and even selfish at times, and you held a grudge better than he ever would have suspected. But, rather than souring his image of you, your darkness only seemed to make you feel more...real. It made him feel a little more comfortable with his own darkness: less like he was tainting you.

When you left on missions, you gave him your keys so he could look in on Bear. In time, Loki began to feel just as at-home in your rooms as he did in his own, if not even more. It was not uncommon for him to spend his evenings with you, when you were both in the Tower, and, over time, it began to feel normal to interact with you outside of discussing the cat. 

One evening, you’d both ducked out on one of Thor’s movie nights in favor of hiding out in your room. The two of you sat together on your small sofa, chatting together while Bear stalked a catnip mouse. Loki had really only just begun to accept how much he enjoyed your presence. It wasn’t about the cat so much anymore, but...you. He’d been trying to ignore it for a while now, trying to tell himself that he felt nothing when you laughed at something he’d said, or reached out to touch his arm in the middle of one of his stories about Asgard. He wasn’t at all affected by the adoration in your face when he played with Bear, and he _certainly_ didn’t long to have you look at him like that. But it was getting to be too much for him, and he had to face up to that. He was absolutely _gone_ for you, for this small mortal with the giant heart and the patience to coax a wary creature into loving you. 

He summoned the courage to reach for your hand there on the sofa, and didn’t bother telling himself that he shouldn’t need courage to touch a Midgardian. You didn’t pull away. In fact, you barely gave any indication that you’d noticed him at all, except for the way you’d squeezed his hand a little bit tighter and refused to let go. Something drew Bear’s attention, then, and he looked at the two of you. His tail twitched. In a moment’s time, he’d leaped onto the sofa between you and flopped over so that his back was against Loki’s thigh, then stretched out so his feet rested against you. You squeezed his hand even more tightly.

“Oh my god. He’s never done that before,” you whispered. Your voice was rough, and Loki was struck once again by how fearless you were with showing him how you felt. When you looked up at him, your eyes were shining with pride—and...affection? “He really likes you, Loki.” Something in your voice, something unspoken, made hope surge within his chest, and he reached out with his free hand to caress your cheek. You didn’t pull away, and even reached up to press your own free hand against his. You licked your lips, and he found that he couldn’t look away from your mouth. You drew in a breath and ventured a smile at him. “ _I_ really like you...”

It felt natural, the way he leaned forward to press his lips against yours. You breathed in quickly, a sweet little gasp, and leaned even closer to kiss him harder.

Bear started to purr.


End file.
